Arthur Aron's research centers on the self-expansion model of motivation and cognition in personal relationships. This model posits that (1) people seek to increase their potential efficacy and (2) one way they seek to do so is through relationships in which they include others in the self (thus seeing themselves as possessing to some extent others' perspectives, identities, and resources). His major research programs focus on identifying interpersonal closeness as cognitive overlap between self and other and on how self-expansion motivations relate to and can be used to alleviate the typical decline in relationship satisfaction over time. Other current studies examine implications of the self-expansion model for understanding empathy, intergroup prejudice, persuasion, the social basis of logical processing, and how relationship experiences are mapped in the brain.

He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and serves on the editorial boards of Personal Relationships and the Journal of Personal and Social Relationships. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Society and Principal Investigator on a major National Science Foundation research grant.

Primary Interests:

Close Relationships
Interpersonal Processes
Motivation, Goal Setting
Persuasion, Social Influence
Prejudice and Stereotyping
Self and Identity
Social Cognition

Close Relationships
Interpersonal Processes
Motivation, Goal Setting
Persuasion, Social Influence

Prejudice and Stereotyping
Self and Identity
Social Cognition

Research Group or Laboratory:

Interpersonal Relationships Laboratory
Interactive Map

Books:

Aron, A., & Aron, E. (1989). The heart of social psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Lexington/Free Press.
Aron, A., & Aron, E. (1986). Love and the expansion of self: Understanding attraction and satisfaction. New York: Hemisphere.
Aron, A., & Aron, E. N. (2010). Statistics for the behavioral and social sciences: A brief course (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall.
Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Coups, E. (2006). Statistics for psychology (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall.
Mashek, D., & Aron, A. (Eds.). (2004). Handbook of closeness and intimacy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Journal Articles:

Aron, A., & Aron, E. N. (1995). Three suggestions for increased emphasis in the study of close relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 12, 559-562. (Invited article.)
Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Allen, J. (1998). Motivations for unreciprocated love. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 787-796.
Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 596-612.
Aron, A., Fisher, H., Mashek, D., Strong, G., Li, H., & Brown, L. (2005). Reward, motivation and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love. Journal of Neurophysiology, 93, 327-337.
Aron, A., McLaughlin-Volpe, T., Mashek, D., Lewandowski, G., Wright, S. C., & Aron, E. N. (2004). Including close others in the self. European Review of Social Psychology, 15, 101-132.
Aron, A., Melinat, E., Aron, E. N., Vallone, R., & Bator, R. (1997).The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 363-377.
Aron, A., Norman, C. C., Aron, E. N., McKenna, C., & Heyman, R. (2000). Couples shared participation in novel and arousing activities and experienced relationship quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 273-283.
Aron, A., Paris, M., & Aron, E. N. (1995). Falling in love: Prospective studies of self-concept change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1102-1112.
Aron, A., & Westbay, L. (1996). Dimensions of the prototype of love. ournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 535-551.
Aron, E. N., & Aron, A. (1997). Sensory-processing sensitivity and its relation to introversion and emotionality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 345-368.
Wright, S. C., Aron, A., McLaughlin-Volpe, T., & Ropp, S. A. (1997). The extended contact effect: Knowledge of cross-group friendships and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 73-90.

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Art Aron
Department of Psychology
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500
United States

Phone: (631) 632-7707
Fax: (631) 632-7876